To Be

To Be ( Present Tense )

To Be – Affirmative

Subject

To Be

Examples

I

am

I am from New Zealand.

You

are

You are Chilean.

He

is

He is twenty years old.

She

is

She is a nurse.

It

is

It is a big dog.

We

are

We are intelligent.

You

are

You are students.

They

are

They are married.

To Be – Contractions

Contractions of To Be are very frequent when we are speaking.

To Be

Contraction

Examples

I am

I’m

I’m from New Zealand.

You are

You’re

You’re Chilean.

He is

He’s

He’s twenty years old.

She is

She’s

She’s a nurse.

It is

It’s

It’s a big dog.

We are

We’re

We’re intelligent.

You are

You’re

You’re students.

They are

They’re

They’re married.

To Be – Negative Sentences

The negative of To Be can be made by adding not after the verb.

Subject

To Be

Examples

I

am not

I am not from Spain.

You

are not

You are not Australian.

He

is not

He is not thirty years old.

She

is not

She is not a secretary.

It

is not

It is not a small cat.

We

are not

We are not stupid.

You

are not

You are not teachers.

They

are not

They are not single.

To Be – Negative Contractions

There are two ways of forming contractions of To Be in negative sentences. One is with a contraction of the subject and the verb (e.g. I am = I’m) OR a contraction of the verb and not (e.g. are not = aren’t)

I’m not from Spain.

—

————–*

You’re not Australian.

OR

You aren’t Australian.

He’s not thirty years old.

OR

He isn’t thirty years old.

She’s not a secretary.

OR

She isn’t a secretary.

It’s not a small cat.

OR

It isn’t a small cat.

We’re not stupid.

OR

We aren’t stupid.

You’re not teachers.

OR

You aren’t teachers.

They’re not single.

OR

They aren’t single.

* Notice that the only possible contraction for I am not is I’m not.

To Be – Questions

To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the Subject.

Affirmative

You

are

happy.

Subject

Verb

Question

Are

you

happy?

Verb

Subject

Affirmative

Question

I am intelligent.

Am I intelligent?

You are a student.

Are you a student?

He is a pilot.

Is he a pilot?

She is from Spain.

Is she from Spain?

It is a big house.

Is it a big house?

We are ready.

Are we ready?

You are doctors.

Are you doctors?

They are rich.

Are they rich?

To Be – Short Answers

In spoken English, we usually give short answers in response to questions.

Are you a student? – Yes, I am (a student). The last part (a student) is not necessary. We use shorts answers to avoid repetition, when the meaning is clear.

Question

Short Answers**

Short Answers

Am I intelligent?

Yes, you are.

No, you aren’t.

Are you a student?

Yes, I am.

No, I am not.

Is he a pilot?

Yes, he is.

No, he isn’t.

Is she from Spain?

Yes, she is.

No, she isn’t.

Is it a big house?

Yes, it is.

No, it isn’t.

Are we ready?

Yes, we are.

No, we aren’t.

Are you doctors?

Yes, we are.

No, we aren’t.

Are they rich?

Yes, they are.

No, they aren’t.

** With To Be, We don’t use contractions in affirmative short answers unless there is additional information after it (in which case they are no longer considered short answers).

To Be (Past Tense)

To Be – Affirmative

Subject

To Be

Examples

I

was

I was tired this morning.

You

were

You were very good.

He

was

He was the best in his class.

She

was

She was late for work.

It

was

It was a sunny day.

We

were

We were at home.

You

were

You were on holiday.

They

were

They were happy with their test results.

To Be – Negative Sentences

The negative of To Be can be made by adding not after the verb (was or were).

Subject

To Be

Examples

I

was not

I was not tired this morning.

You

were not

You were not crazy.

He

was not

He was not married.

She

was not

She was not famous.

It

was not

It was not hot yesterday.

We

were not

We were not invited.

You

were not

You were not at the party.

They

were not

They were not friends.

To Be – Negative Contractions

The can make negative contractions of the verb To Be in the Past tense by joining the verb (was or were) and n’t (e.g. were not = weren’t). We don’t make a contraction of the subject and the verb (e.g. I was).

I was not tired this morning.

OR

I wasn’t tired this morning.

You were not crazy.

OR

You weren’t crazy.

He was not married.

OR

He wasn’t married.

She was not famous.

OR

She wasn’t famous.

It was not hot yesterday.

OR

It wasn’t hot yesterday.

We were not invited.

OR

We weren’t invited.

You were not at the party.

OR

You weren’t at the party.

They were not friends.

OR

They weren’t friends.

* Notice that we don’t have contractions for To Be in Past Tense affirmative sentences.

To Be – Questions

To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the Subject.

Affirmative

You

were

happy.

Subject

Verb

Question

Were

you

happy?

Verb

Subject

Affirmative

Question

I was late

Was I late?

You were sick.

Were you sick?

He was surprised.

Was he surprised?

She was from Italy.

Was she from Italy?

It was a big house.

Was it a big house?

We were ready.

Were we ready?

You were early.

Were you early?

They were busy.

Were they busy?

To Be – Short Answers

In spoken English, we usually give short answers in response to questions.

Was he from Japan? – Yes, he was (from Japan). The last part (from Japan) is not necessary. We use shorts answers to avoid repetition, when the meaning is clear.

Question

Short Answers**

Short Answers

Was I late?

Yes, you were.

No, you weren’t.

Were you sick?

Yes, I was.

No, I wasn’t.

Was he surprised?

Yes, he was.

No, he wasn’t.

Was she from Italy?

Yes, she was.

No, she wasn’t.

Was it a big house?

Yes, it was.

No, it wasn’t.

Were we ready?

Yes, we were.

No, we weren’t.

Were you early?

Yes, we were.

No, we weren’t.

Were they busy?

Yes, they were.

No, they weren’t.

** With To Be, We don’t use contractions in affirmative short answers.